Dominic West

Born: 1970
Where: Sheffield, England, UK

The onetime cattle-herder is inching his way up the greasy Hollywood pole with appearances in Chicago, Mona Lisa Smile and The Forgotten.

The son of the owner of a plastics firm and a mother who worshipped the theatre, he was appearing on stage by the age of nine.

He spent four months as a cattle herder in Argentina "trying to be different" before enrolling at Dublin's Trinity College, where he graduated in 1993 with a BA in English literature.

After attending the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, West worked extensively on the London stage with starring turns in small British features and supporting parts in larger-scale productions.

He made his big screen debut in 1995's Wavelength, a drama set at Oxford University, a setting revisited by the actor in the following year's True Blue, based on the school's famed 1987 boat race.

In 1996, he took a featured role in the film adaptation of Richard III starring Ian McKellen, and also appeared as Paulo Picasso in Surviving Picasso.

He also cropped up playing a photographer in the disposable pop vehicle Spice World.

In 1999 a role as Lysander in Michael Hoffman's star studded adaptation William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream bought recognition with an American audience.

Virtually naked for much of the film, he capably held his own alongside co-stars Christian Bale, Calista Flockhart and Anna Friel.

After this co-starring role, he was seen uttering a single line as a mostly obscured palace guard in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace.

Next up was the role of a rhythm guitarist for hard rock band Steel Dragon in the fact-based comedy Rock Star, starring Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Aniston.

In addition to his flourishing film career, he also made time for the stage with performances in productions of Cloud Nine and The Seagull during director Peter Hall's 1997 season at the Old Vic.

In 2002, he raised his profile with the role of Fred Caseley in the big screen version of the musical Chicago and starred alongside Julia Roberts in Mona Lisa Smile.

In 2004, he starred as an amnesiac father in the supernatural thriller The Forgotten with Julianne Moore.